Downward Dog, Upward Fog

After commenting on a very positive five star review of Downward Dog, Upward Fog on a book blog (sorry I can’t remember which), the author offered me a copy for review and I accepted. Though I am not particularly spiritual (and not at all religious) the premise seemed lighthearted and fun.

Actually Downward Dog, Upward Fog takes itself quite seriously, a little too seriously for my taste. Rather than connecting with Lorna’s spiritual journey I felt like I was getting a crash course in new age mysticism complete with book lists, summarised philosophies and neat quotes, especially in the first half of the novel where the story relies on little else. The plot was quite thin, the turning point for Lorna was a long time coming and entirely predictable followed by a few contrived events that didn’t work for me, such as her new romantic relationship with her cousin.

What I did like about the story was the healthy skepticism Lorna treats each idea with eventually choosing amongst the alternatives to find things that work for her like Yoga, meditation and positive thinking. I also liked that Lorna ‘slipped’ frequently and didn’t instantly become serene and all knowing. She had to work at maintaining control and making conscious decisions.

I did admire Lorna’s decision to make positive and healthy changes in her life, but for me, Lorna was not a very likeable character, self centered and irritable to begin with, ‘spiritually enlightened’ she became somewhat pious and smug.

While I wasn’t enamoured of Downward Dog, Upward Fog, it does have a positive message about making changes in your life to find peace and happiness. It’s a story that will likely appeal to those seeking a new path.

After reading some very deep and thought provoking books, I thought I needed a chick-lit fix and was drawn to this one because of it's yoga theme. However, I'm afraid it was all a bit too simple and fluffy for me - a bit like a drive-in fast food outlet for ready made spirituality. There are some good messages contained in this novel - the importance of living in the moment, for example, which Lorna struggles with continuously (as do many of us, no doubt). But these were overshadowed by things which simply annoyed me (such as Lorna's born-again condescending answers to everything)... so I'm afraid a 2 star rating is being generous. I think I just got bored with having spirituality served on a platter, pre-digested and simplified to a point where it took away the challenge to think things through for yourself. Which made me struggle to even finish the book .... and some scenes towards the end, like Lorna performing yoga in ICU instead of holding her loved one's hand, were way over the top for me.

I had the impression that the author tried too hard to pack in as much new age spirituality as possible into this story, which in the end made it preachy and unbelievable. For example, I have never met anyone who is able to perform perfect yoga asanas (like a 15-minute headstand) after just a few months of practice, especially someone made out to be as unfit as Lorna ... and whilst Lorna has some pitfalls on her journey (which made her appear human for a little while), her almost obsessive embracing of anything new-age seems unhealthy and unsustainable to me. All in all, the

answers all seemed too simple and contrived, and the preachy overtones spoiled a story which could have potentially been fun and entertaining as well as thought-provoking.